GUTLESS WONDERS TAKE NOTE: Queen Rania Steps Up

It’s ironic that it should be a women who’s lately stepped forward to publicly denounce bloody-minded Islamic radicals. Your rank-and-file, “allahu-akbar” howling jihadists, remember, don’t hold members of the fairer sex in particularly high esteem. Neither do they much like it when an infidel condemns their murderous machinations. For them, however, it must be even more galling when it’s not only a female doing the scolding — but a traitorous fellow Muslim, to boot. Not a kaffir (unbeliever) mind you; one of their own — in a skirt.

Impressively, that’s exactly what happened a few weeks ago when Jordan’s Queen Rania, sans head-covering and stylishly, but modestly, attired like a 21st century female power-player, addressed the United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi Media Summit . The 44-year-old monarch boldly denounced Islamist terror group ISIS for decapitating its prisoners and promoting the butchery via Twitter and Facebook.

“A minority of irreligious extremists is using social media to rewrite our narrative and hijack our identity,” she declared. “That’s what ISIS is doing to the Arab world and all of us … These images don’t represent me anymore than they represent you … They’re alien and abhorrent to the vast majority of Arabs – Muslims and Christians. And they should make every Arab across this region seethe.”

The Queen went a step further in her chiding — inviting not only the homicidal wrath of cutthroat Islamists around the world, but also the pique of more workaday followers of “the Prophet” who simply want to stay out of the whole, internecine issue: “We — the moderate [Islamic] majority – are equally to blame. Our silence speaks volumes,” pressed Her Royal Highness. “The silence of moderate Arabs made them complicit in ISIS’ success.”

Compare the Hashemite first lady to Muslim advocacy groups which all too commonly take to the airwaves in the wake of every fresh Mohammed-inspired outrage. These Islamo-pologists reflexively resort to peevish counter-accusations (“Anti-Muslim bigotry’s not the answer!”), weasel words (“There are bad individuals in every group.”), and moral equivalence (“The Palestinians and Israelis must both refrain from violence”.)

How about a bit more energy repudiating the savages beheading children, raping women, annihilating villages in the name of their mutual deity, and a bit less energy whining about non-Muslims who have the temerity to be outspokenly appalled by the same. Enough excitably showing up on cable TV or talk-radio wagging their fingers at sensible folk who draw the unremarkable conclusion that there’s something intrinsic to Koranic faith that encourages such enormities.

Here’s an idea: these defenders of Islam could take a page from Queen Rania’s playbook, waggling more of those indignant digits at the maniacal “brethren” they clam are gruesomely smearing their religion’s otherwise pristine reputation.

If and when half-a-billion terrorism-reprehending, civilization-loving Muslims storm the avenues, waving placards against so called “holy warriors”, flooding social media with unqualified denunciations of “fanatics” who wreak havoc in the cause of sharia? Only then will so-called “moderates” have a case to make about Islam as a “religion of peace.”

“We must create a new narrative and broadcast it to the world,” urged the Queen. “Because if we don’t decide what our identity is and what our legacy will be, the extremists will do it for us.”

Indeed. And if the majority of Muslims worldwide opt for cheering on vicious jihad? Or just stay mum about it on the Islamic sidelines? They’ll have slim room for complaint when the rest of the planet decides the dar al-Islam promotes a bestial ideology of death and destruction.

Another headline-grabbing group which would benefit from a dose of Queen Rania’s straight-shooting, bearding-the-bear-in-his-den pluckiness: African-Americans. With viperous, high-profile miscreants like Sharpton, Jackson and Farrakhan once more swooping in to “represent” (read: agitate) the minority community — this time on the heels of Michael Brown’s, and more recently Eric Garner’s, controversial deaths — it’s more obvious than ever: the black population must turn its back, en masse, on the hucksters, grievance-mongers and racialist propaganda they untiringly peddle. It’s poisoning the entire debate — and pestilentially poisoning “their people” in the mix.

Millions more like these need to come aboard, dispensing an unmistakable “content-of-their-character” message — redemptive, reconciliatory; pushing personal responsibility, repudiating the gnarling victimhood mentality; refusing to be defined principally by how much melanin they tote around in their epidermis.

While we’re at it: Republicans might take a cue from the redoubtable lady from Jordan — especially as they begin to move crabwise from any meaningful measures to check the Statist Left and our Autocrat-in-Chief. As I peck out these words, GOP stalwarts are backing away from substantial spending cuts, overturning Obamacare, neutralizing the President’s illegal amnesty gambit. Sure, they mutter dyspeptically about Democratic designs; they then step aside, letting the other side have its way with the country. Call it the squawk-and-shrug approach.

Queen Rania has confronted an entire demonic sub-culture that, no doubt, currently wants her dead. Republicans are paralyzed into inaction at the prospect of crossing querulous donors and squishy voters.

Sometimes nowadays, indispensable courage is merely willing to risk popular disapproval; defying the obsequious strictures of “political correctness”; hazarding hysterical accusations of “racism”, “intolerance”, “anti-womanism”, “hatefulness” – tempting all of that simply for doing what is in fact the right and necessary things; taking the tough, if temporarily un-self-flattering, decisions.

At one time, that was called leadership.

From the frenzied Arab world to sinking America, lots of folks await its return.

Steve Pauwels is pastor of Church of the King, Londonderry, NH and host of Striker Radio with Steve Pauwels on the Red State Talk Radio Network. He's also husband to the lovely Maureen and proud father of three fine sons: Mike, Sam and Jake.

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